Nunez provides surprising power surge
CLEVELAND — When Eduardo Nunez became a member of the Red Sox at the end of last month, he was known as a decent hitter, but power was not really part of his reputation.
Now, it is.
Nunez hit his second home run in as many games last night, a ninth-inning, tworun laser shot over the left field wall that gave the Sox some extra cushion in a 6-1 victory against the Indians.
He could be the only one not surprised to see so many of his balls go out of the park.
“I’m working for this. I go to the cage, I go to the training room, to the gym to have success,” Nunez said.
With six home runs in 22 games for the Sox, and four with the Giants in 76 games, Nunez has 10 home runs on the season, after hitting 16 combined last year with the Twins and Giants. In his six previous seasons, he had never reached double digits in home runs.
There is a reason for the uptick, Nunez said.
“Yeah, I’ve been working out, and I’ve changed my approach the last three years — and everyday playing time made a difference,” he said. “For the last two years, I’ve learned more (of an uppercut swing) than before. Before I was more down, line drive-hitting, ground ball to the opposite field, so I changed my approach.”
Nunez said offseason workouts in the Dominican Republic with Robinson Cano, Edwin Encarnacion and Jean Segura helped him learn to turn on and pull inside pitches rather than go to the opposite field.
Manager John Farrell loves the results, even if the long ball was not part of the scouting report.
“I don’t know that we were thinking home run. He was swinging the bat well,” Farrell said. “We needed to add to our offense, which let’s face it, month of July we were stagnant. He’s done that, and the power certainly has been there. He’s such a good highball hitter, and that’s where a lot of those home runs have come from, pitches up.”
Before the past two games, Nunez had been scuffling some, going through an 0-for-13 stretch that included some loud outs on which defenders were fortunate enough to be standing where he was hitting the ball. He was not deterred. “It’s up and down sometimes. You’re going to have a hot week, you’re going to have a cool week,” Nunez said. “You have to believe in your routine, believe in what you’re doing all year long, and everything will take care of itself.”
Nunez homered in backto-back games for the fourth time in his career, the last time coming with San Francisco on June 4-5. He has hit safely in 7-of-9 games against the Indians this season, batting .410 (16-for-39) with five runs scored and 14 RBI.